Black musk

[faylie]

Mods sorry if there is already a topic for this, I did do a search but couldn't find it.

 

I have come to the conclusion I love black musk. In the very first batch of imps I got there was Dracul and Black forest, both of which I like, but they aren't really ones I feel like I can wear much. More recently I have found favourites in Aeronwen and my CT:O which also has it in it.

 

The problem is that looking at a list of blends with black musk a lot seem to be rather floral or have patchouli, neither of which I am all that keen on. I also don't work well with vetiver / vetivert, most leather notes, most aquatics, most ozones or cologney sorts.

 

Any suggestions for me try?

[fairnymph]

I *love* black musk, although I also like other things you don't, but I'll suggest what you might like of those scents where I've gotten a lot of black musk.

 

Black Lily - I get a ton of black musk in this. Obviously it's floral too, but it's not a typical lily, and it's not a typical floral.

Bohun Upas - again, not a listed note, but I get it here, along with woods and resin.

Incubus - I get musky caramel with sage.

Lilith - does have rose, but it has a lot of other things that might appeal.

Faiza, the Black Mamba - this is very well blended, complex scent.

Habu - not very strong on the SO, for what it's worth. Lots of musk and teak on me.

Khandita (LE) - the rose in this is very short lived.

Tiki King (LE)

[chaismolokom]

I haven't tried it yet myself, but you could perhaps look for Haunted. The notes listed are golden amber and black musk. Oblivion, one of my favorite blends, has dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. I don't really get the patchouli, so it might be worth a shot, unless you tend to amp that. Bewitched is another with dark musk - blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries, and dark musk. It's a nice berry scent, if blackberries work for you. Two-Headed Goat is another that I haven't tried, but dark musk is the first note - dark musk, pimento berry, oakmoss, birch wood, petitgrain.

 

ETA: Also! Titus Andronicus (dark musk and black amber with frankincense, red sandalwood, neroli and bergamot) and Robin Goodfellow (dark musk, moss-covered wood, ragwort, heather, and sage).

Edited April 5, 2009 by chaismolokom

[Apple]

Black musk is rather loud on me and turns to baby powder. The blends that did this the most were (i.e., these were all powder, all the time):

Dance of Death

(Ars Moriendi) - Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh.

 

Haunted

(Ars Moriendi) - Soft golden amber darkened with a touch of murky black musk.

 

Iago

(Illyria) - Sinuous black musk, wet leather and vetiver.

Since you're leery of patchouli and more traditionally masculine blends, I'd recommend Haunted.

[septima_pica]

You should try The Black Tower. That had a strong black musk note on me, backed up with a lot of weird and fascinating stuff.

[doodlehum]

Me too! I love black musk. Red musk doesn't work well on me and white musk smells boring. But black musk...mmmmmmmm. yum.

 

I really liked:

1. Love and Pain from the Salon. Don't know if you count lavender as a floral....for the first few months, this thing has a lavender that will kick you in the seat of the pants and leave you flat on your face. After a bit of aging, it becomes more balanced: a golden vanilla(non-foody vanilla)/tobacco/black musk with lavender on top.

Lavender, Balkan tobacco, black musk, dark vanilla, and golden copaifera

 

2. The Smiling Spider, also from the Salon. Clove cigarettes. With lots of black musk. I get very little patchouli out of this. I wouldn't be able to identify it as a note without the description.

Bitter clove, black musk, mahogany wood, and patchouli.

 

3. I totally second Bewitched. The green tea and sage in this really make an herb-y black musk smelly for me, with blackberries in the background for sweetness.

 

Thanks for starting this thread! I get to look at all the other recs, especially CD, which I've only tried one scent out of so far.

[donnatron]

Hecate is a really lovely blend of black musk with almond and myrrh. Dragon's blood resin has a bit of a floral tinge to it but Dragon's Heart from the Ars Draconis section is amazing. There's also a touch of red musk blended into the black musk. If you want a bit more of a lighter/herbal black musk, Mad Hatter is a really interesting blend of lavender, pennyroyal and black musk.

 

If you want to look into past black or dark musk limited editions or want some more recommendations, there's a general thread on musks here.

[faylie]

Paperrose, thanks for the Hecate recommendation, I put some of this on last night and it was all almond and a touch of myrrh, this morning all I could smell was black musk and I had forgotten it was in there. I was starting to think my nose was broken and I was smelling it everywhere even if it wasn't in it.

 

There's musk in bewitched?!? I get all light berries and brightness from that, I like it a lot but I'm going to have to hunt my imp down and try it again. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

Fairnymph I got a frimp of Black Lily in my 13 order on Friday so I will try that out and see how it goes.

 

Haunted sounds perfect for me, that's going on the must have list for sure. Don't know how I missed this before. Habu sounds great too.

 

Lavender is good, I count it as much a herbal as much as a floral but I'm a bit apprehensive of ordering the salons as they are more expensive and only come in bottles. Those two do sound good though.

 

Mad Hatter (I'm guessing the pennyroyal) and Iago (vetiver of doom) were disasters on me. Titus Andronicus I might try again, I think I still have an imp of it.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, it's so helpful to get ideas from other people.

[fairnymph]

Fairnymph I got a frimp of Black Lily in my 13 order on Friday so I will try that out and see how it goes.

 

Let me know if you think I'm right about the black musk in Black Lily.

 

Also, Mad Hatter and Iago were both horrible on me. Especially Mad Hatter - I hate pennyroyal. And, I don't get any musk from Bewitched and I amp musk. So we may have similar skin chemistry.

 

I agree that Robin Goodfellow is very musky - and delicious, if a bit masculine for me personally - however I don't get black musk specifically from it. I don't get it in the Black Tower either, which is sharp, smoky VETIVER on me. The Two-Headed Goat does have a delicious musk note, but I didn't note the type in my spreadsheet.

Edited April 7, 2009 by fairnymph

[faylie]

I'd say black musk for sure in Black Lotus, it hasn't lasted all that long on me with much throw though, even being applied in my hair. I put it on about 4 hours ago and really have to put my nose right to my wrist to smell it, same with my hair. It's a pity because I did quite like it, floral and all. Maybe it just needs to age a bit, musks do tend to age well don't they?